Curiosity
by coffee shop poet
Summary: she grinned, her face lighting up like a moth to a flame. "you have one too!".


Victor looked across the room and met a wide, impenetrable gaze. A gaze that he had once seen in his young brother, that infuriated him to the breaking point, pushing him far over the limits that his feral rage would allow. His claws began to crawl from his nail beds, digging into flesh that knew pain, but no scars.

He wanted to rip her apart just so he wouldn't have to look at the fragile little paper doll anymore.

"Mr. Creed," she said, the small hands rubbing at the sleepy hollows of her eyes. She was getting sleepy. "Why do you have such long claws on your fingers?"

He snorted. "The better to rip you apart with."

She clapped her hands over her small rosebud mouth and giggled ferociously, curls bouncing with the mirthful motions. He couldn't understand why something so small could find hilarity in the colossal monster. It wasn't meant to be humorous. It was meant to scare, to intimidate – he thought she should have been writhing in a fit of terror, tears and snot rolling down her face in thick gobs. That was the way it was supposed to be.

But it wasn't.

"Mr. Creed?"

"What, _pup_?" He growled.

There was the intimidation he was looking for. "Where's my mommy and daddy?"

"Dead as a doornail." He snapped. "Anymore dumb fucking questions?"

She shook her head solemnly, scooting closer into the wall for a moment as he drifted into the kitchen for a shot of whiskey. He figured he needed something to escape the little talkative nuisance in his living room, who failed to grasp the concept of fear he was trying to drill into her thick little skull. Vaguely, as he grumbled petulantly under his breath, he recalled that it was the same unspoiled innocence that Jimmy once had – whom he hated. Whom he despised. His immortal enemy.

He turned around as the scent of pure, untouched skin reached his flaring nostrils. The pup was standing behind him, eyes wide and lacking in that essence of disgust, the same one humanity salvaged just for mutants. "What do you want _now?_" He insisted.

She motioned with one tiny finger, which he mused he could snap as easily as a twig, to come closer. Intrigue overwhelming his irritation, he scoffed and knelt down in front of her. Curiosity killed the cat.

His body tensed as she outstretched her hand, the limb shaking slightly as it moved past the barrier that separated them in their vast differences. A growl rumbled through his chest and, like a flash of lightning, his hand snapped out to capture the offending object with fluid ease. A gasp tore through her, and she could not contain a whimper as the claws dug into the fresh bruises on her wrist.

"You think just cause I let you live that you can just…what? Walk around here like you own the place?"

She shook her head.

"Then what the fuck are you doing?"

The appendage wiggled free of his near-crushing grip and settled gently against his massive chest. She grinned, her face lighting up like a moth to a flame. "You have one too!"

He pushed her away, the force of his rejection knocking the fragile body to the ground."Not the brightest little apple of the bunch are you, pup?"

Walking out of the kitchen, he heard a small giggle echo off the walls behind him…_what the hell did I get myself into this time?_

Victor shook his head and downed the shot of whiskey. _Same shit, different day._

* * *

Author's Notes: This is more like a rough draft, but it's also more like a drabble. I'm not feeling so good today so my writing isn't exactly stellar but...I liked the idea of writing a story about Victor finding a little girl that reminded him of Jimmy. Of course, there would be a catch - the little girl's something special and Creed has to protect what's his.

Let me know if you like the idea for a full length story and I'll keep writing it. I was thinking of it being a young Ororo, set just after Origins seeing as she'd be only like, what...5 years old or something? I liked the idea _a lot, _even though I know it's been done before_._ Let me know if you like it too!

Disclaimer - X-Men belongs to Marvel Comics.


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